macman@wpi.wpi.edu (Chris Silverberg) (07/01/90)
Hi! Can someone help explain to me the "interleave" characteristic of hard drives? I have a new Quantum HD, and when formatting, it asks me for the desired interleave. (1, 2, 3, or 4). Currently I have the HD installed internally on my MacSE. (no accelerations or anything). Specifically, what interleave SHOULD I be using, and what advantages/ disadvantages/side effects are of using the right and wrong selection? Thanks much! - Chris ._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._.._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._. Chris Silverberg AOL: Silverberg Worcester Polytechnic Institute GEnie: C.Silverberg INTERNET: macman@wpi.wpi.edu SYSOP: Main Street U.S.A. BBS FIDONET: 322/575.1 508.832.7725 (1200/2400)
cckweiss@castor (07/03/90)
In article <13801@wpi.wpi.edu> macman@wpi.wpi.edu (Chris Silverberg) writes: >Hi! > >Can someone help explain to me the "interleave" characteristic of hard drives? >I have a new Quantum HD, and when formatting, it asks me for the desired >interleave. (1, 2, 3, or 4). Currently I have the HD installed internally >on my MacSE. (no accelerations or anything). > >Specifically, what interleave SHOULD I be using, and what advantages/ >disadvantages/side effects are of using the right and wrong selection? > >Thanks much! > >- Chris > ._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._.._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._. > Chris Silverberg AOL: Silverberg > Worcester Polytechnic Institute GEnie: C.Silverberg > INTERNET: macman@wpi.wpi.edu SYSOP: Main Street U.S.A. BBS > FIDONET: 322/575.1 508.832.7725 (1200/2400) Interleave refers to the number of physical disc sectors skipped between each logical sector. The interleave is created to allow slower processors to digest one sector worth of data before the next one comes along. If interleave is too large things slow down a little,as the processor is waiting for the next logical sector to come into position under the r/w head. If interleave is too small then things slow down a lot, as the next logical sector will be past the r/w head before the processor is ready to accept the data. When this happens the system must wait a full disk rotation for the correct physical sector to come around again. On an SE most manufacturers seem to recommend a 3:1 interleave, but hey, what to they (or I) know... Ken Weiss
ts@cup.portal.com (Tim W Smith) (07/06/90)
Assuming your Quantum drive is in the Quantum ProDrive series, then you don't care what the interleave is set to. The interleave parameter is ignored by the drive, since the firmware on the drive feels that it knows more about the drive than you do. Tim Smith